Protective device for light-shades.



WITN \U. C.

F. M. WALKER.

'PROTECTIVE DEVICE FOR LIGHT SHADES.

APPLICATION FILED nEc.21. 1916.

1 416,509. Patented Nov. 13, 1917.

gsss \mu e P- INVENTOR UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRED WALKER, 013 DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

- rnb'rno'rrvn nnvrcn ron LIGHT-SHADES.

To all whom it may concern."

Be it known that I, FRED M. WALKER, a

citizen of the United States, residing at board or sheet metal, do not impair to any noticeable extent the quantity and quality Detroit, county of Wayne, State of Michigan, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Protective Devices for Light-Shades, and declare the following to be a .full, clear, and'exact description of the same, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use the same, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to protective devices used on lamp and electric light shades, and has for its object an improved construction whereby, without diminishing the quality of intensity of the light projected upon the point immediately beneath the shade, it acts to shelter the eyes of persons looking at the same from an oblique angle, that is, from positions other than directly therebeneath.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective of a shade and my improved screen in position thereon, viewed from beneath,

Fig. 2 is an elevational view, showing diagrammatically, and in exaggerated proportions, the screening efiect of my apparatus, as regards laterally removed positions of observation,

Fig. 3 is an elevation of one of the strips of the screen,

Fig. i is a plan view of a modified form of screen.

A indicates the lamp shade of any approved form, and B the light therein, either oil, gas, or an electric bulb. Across the bottom of the shade, which is particularly adapted for use on the large central light of a room, is located a lattice work, composed of a series of generally parallel arranged strips C, which are intersected and trav ersed at intervals, generally at a right angle, by similar strips D. These StflpS' being placed on edge, and being as thin as cardof light projected straight downwardly from the illuminant B, or, in other words, the

person looking up at the light from directly therebeneath would see thellght 1n prac- Specifieation of Letters Patent.

tically unimpaired strength, but a person looking theretoward at an oblique angle, that is, from a position more or less at one side or edge of the room, would be looking more or less at the lateral faces of one or both series of strips, Whose breadth or depth is of such degree as, when combined, to materially, if not entirely, shut ofi' the direct rays of the illuminant. 'If the observers position be such that he is looking at either the strip C or the strips D truly perpendicularly, that series alone would combine to screen the light from his eyes. If however, he is looking from a position in which his glance goes into the angle formed by the intersections of the strips in series C and series D, they combine to serve as a rotec- ,tion to the eyes, the degree of contribution of each varying with the exact position of the observer. The screen when assembled is not unlike a series of letter boxes or pigeon holes from which the back has been removed. And while I have shown the strips as intersecting at rightangles, I do not confine this disclosure thereto; under some circumstances it mightprove advisable to vary the angularity somewhat.

It will be observed, from an examination of Fig. 2, that the rays of light E, which proceed downwardlyor nearly so from the illuminant B pass without interception between the strips or screen pieces C and D, whereas the rays of light F,whose direction is toward the sides or edge of the room are intercepted from passing beyond the confines of the shade by the lateral faces of the strips 0 and D.

The same principles as regards interce tion of the rays of light hold true for t e concentrically arranged screening strips shown in plan in Fig. 4; from any laterally removed point of observation the curved strips H alone or in cooperation with the radial strips G perform the same cooperating function as the straight strips G and D already described.

What I claim is i In a lamp shade, in combination-with an her, said screen member being composedof Patented Nov. 13, 1917. Application filed December 21, 1916. Serial No. 138,192.

intersecting ribbon-like strips of negligible In testimony whereof, I sign this specifithickness, all arranged in vertical planes and cation in the presence of two witnesses. adapted to offer substantially no obstacle to the rays of light proceeding substantially FRED M. WALKER. downwardly from said source of light, but Witnesses:

cooperating for the interception of obliquely WILLIAM M. SWAN,

directed rays. 7 JEFFERSON G. THURBER. 

